Pressure ulcers can be a common and costly problem in acute care, nursing home, and home care populations. A pressure ulcer is a lesion caused by unrelieved pressure resulting in damage to underlying tissue. Pressure ulcers usually occur over bony prominences and are graded or staged to classify the degree of tissue damage observed. Stage I pressure ulcers are those that present with nonblanchable erythema of intact skin. Stage II pressure ulcers include a partial thickness skin loss involving epidermis, dermis, or both. Stage III pressure ulcers are characterized by full thickness skin loss involving damage or necrosis of subcutaneous tissue that may extend down to, but not through, underlying fascia. Stage IV pressure ulcers present with full thickness skin loss with extensive destruction, tissue necrosis, or damage to muscle, bone or supporting structures.
Therefore, there is a need to train medical and nursing personnel and other patient care givers in the assessment and treatment of pressure ulcers. It is towards fulfilling such a need that the present invention is directed.
Broadly, the present invention is embodied in a three dimensional external human anatomy model which integrally includes pressure ulcer wound facsimiles representative of different pressure ulcer stages. More specifically, the wound model of the present invention is comprised of a three-dimensional sculpted base member resembling a portion of a human body which is provided integrally at discrete locations thereof with multiple pressure ulcer wound facsimiles, each of which respectively visually simulates a different type of Stage I-IV pressure ulcers. The base member may, however be provided with other (non-staged) pressure ulcer facsimiles, such as, for example, a pressure ulcer which is visually representative of granulation tissue, a trochanteric pressure ulcer covered with black eschar, or a yellowish coagulum as well as combinations of such pressure ulcer facsimiles.
It is especially preferred that the base member of the wound model in accordance with this invention be embodied in a three-dimensional sculpture representative of a human buttocks. However, the base member could, if desired, be embodied in other human body regions where pressure ulcers may occur, such as a person's hips, heels, back of head, shoulder and the like. Thus, although reference will hereinafter be made specifically to the base member being in the form of a three-dimension sculpture representative of a human buttocks, it will be appreciated that such reference is to a presently preferred embodiment of this invention.
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more clear from the detailed description of the preferred exemplary embodiment thereof which follows.